Who I am
For over 70 years...
I’ve been a questioner, a doubter, and a seeker of meaning in life;
At ease with nuance, paradox, the unknown, and the unknowing;
Comfortable with differences and life on the margins;
Committed to social justice, equity, inclusion, and change.
Personally...
I’m a white, queer, cisgender, and educated elder woman;
a wife, a mother of two, and a grandmother of three.
Raised in the segregated rural South of the 1950s, I lived
adolescence in the Civil Rights and Vietnam decade of the ‘60s.
My father was a minister, eventually a seminary professor.
My mother was a teacher in an inner-city high school.
Their Christian beliefs, liberal politics, and the cultural upheaval
of my youth deeply shaped my awareness of the world’s inequities.
I’ve always embraced my evolving faith and fluid sexuality,
as chronicled in my recent book, Evolving: Faith, Sexuality, and Aging.
As I share in my memoir, I was married with two children in my 20s.
I was divorced and a single mom in my 30s and 40s, living in the DC area.
My sexual orientation evolved when I reached middle age, and eventually,
I married a widowed mother of two and grandmother of five.
In late adulthood, my wife and I retired to Cape Cod,
and we live together on the beautiful New England coast.
Professionally...
I’m a spiritual director, author, and educator.
A member of Spiritual Directors International, I graduated from
Stillpoint’s Art of Spiritual Direction, training as a spiritual companion.
I also completed Stillpoint’s Group Spiritual Direction program.
Previously, I deepened my knowledge of contemplation through
The Living School of The Center for Action and Contemplation,
which was instrumental in my decision to become a spiritual companion.
Before my retirement, I was a clinical social worker (MSW) and educator (PhD).
I worked with adults experiencing grief, crises, trauma, mental illness, and
relationship challenges, and my academic research focused on LGBTQ+ families.
The listening skills, intuition, and empathy I developed as a psychotherapist
continue to be essential in my practice as a spiritual companion.
Spiritually...
My spiritual journey has traveled a non-dualistic, circular path, and
my faith has evolved far beyond the teachings of my religious childhood.
The beliefs and simple faith of my youth transitioned during college,
prompting my affiliation with a more accepting and open denomination.
A progressive Christian who respects other faith traditions,
I belong to a welcoming Episcopal Church.
I embrace and value the contribution of doubt
to the development of my evolving faith, and I’m open to hearing
the questions and doubts of all who wish to share with me.
Today...
I experience a sense of the Holy, the Spirit, the Divine...
When I walk on Cape Cod beaches, witnessing the ebb and flow of the tides,
and the pink, red, and gold of sunsets;
when I watch my young grandchildren play
and my dog romp on the sandy shores;
when I move through the darkness and tensions of daily life,
welcoming the hope that always emerges;
when I honestly express my truth, share my life story, and write my inner feelings;
when I sit silently in prayerful contemplation, and
when I intimately, vulnerably, and lovingly share with others.
Professional Bio
Susanne Bennett is a spiritual director & companion, an author, and an educator living on Cape Cod. A former psychotherapist and university professor at The Catholic University of America and Smith College, she specialized in mental health, attachment, and clinical social work with LGBTQIA+ individuals and families.
Susanne holds a PhD from Smith College, an MSW from the University of Maryland, and a BA in religion from Wake Forest University. She is the co-editor of Adult Attachment in Clinical Social Work: Practice, Research, and Policy (2010, Springer) and has authored over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. She is a graduate of the Center for Action and Contemplation’s Living School in New Mexico and Stillpoint’s Art of Spiritual Direction training program in California.